Primetime Battle: Guinness vs NB

Primetime is now a common marker around the globe and this televisual “clock” has become a part of the everyday experience in almost every society. It is not unusual for primetime broadcast networks to attract 85%-90% of the available audience in different parts of the world, hence the scramble for mindshare among big advertisers of consumer goods in Nigeria like Nigerian Breweries and Guinness Nigeria among other players. According to a media survey, within the first half of 2009, NB was a little above Guinness Nigeria in advertising spend after the GSM giants MTN, Globacom and Zain took the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. However, the two brewing giants (NB and Guinness) appear to be engaged in a struggle for more mind and market share during primetime broadcast. Ralph Tathagata reports.

Introduction
Primetime is that part of the evening when audience levels for television viewing peaks. In some time zones, primetime is 7:00 – 11:00 pm, whereas in some others, primetime is 6:00 – 10:00 pm. The 8:00 pm and  9:00 p.m. hours have the highest homes using television (HUT) level according expert opinions.
Broadcast networks pay their affiliated stations in each local market to air network offerings, an act referred to by practitioners as network compensation. In return, the networks retain the bulk of the commercial time for sale to national advertisers wanting to reach a national audience during such programmes. Via the commercials placed or aired during the time, the networks that made payment for network compensation stand a chance of recouping the outlay.
It follows that the time that offers the highest audience for television viewership also attracts the highest scramble or demand by brands desiring to reach for the minds of the public. The networks factor the demand into the supply in reaching their rates, M2 findings reveal. The price tag has done nothing to discourage keen brand custodians and builders.

Big Advertisers and the Battle for Market Share
A recent report shows that the best time to reach a majority of TV viewers is between 9 and 10 pm (Mondays to Thursday) and 7 – 8pm (Friday) especially on AIT and STV. An advert insertion on any of the entertainment or sport (football) segments gives the advertiser a lot of mileage.
To a large extent, the advertising system functions the same way the world over. Advertising rates are determined by program popularity and primetime. For example, when Mexican Soap Operas like ‘Gardner’s Daughter’ and ‘When You Are Mine’ were on air, adverts were usually between 15 and 30 seconds and could cost twice the usual rates.
Within popular programs there are still different rates, depending on the audience at that time of the day. Professionals claim this is market survey determined.
Experts advise that it is also best to use advertising and media monitoring agencies and companies to make and get one’s primetime ads on both TV and radio as they have a relationship with the stations. Serious brands do not make advertising decisions lightly. They resort to the counsel of professionals including media monitoring agencies. This way, the ad spend can be justified on return on investment basis.
Big companies like NB and Guinness Nigeria can afford to buy ad space en bloc, allowing them to put their ads on air anytime, even weeks and months apart. The advert rule for alcoholic beverages states that they can only be aired from 9pm.

Why Radio and TV Stations Position with Primetime
All modern radio and television stations try to have at least one or two programmes that attract large listening and viewing audiences so that they can sway advertisers to jostle for ad space.
Industry watchers say radio ads are more affordable because they (radio stations) drop their prices to accommodate more customers because more companies take TV as first choice when planning their budget for reaching a mass audience.
Advert rates differ from station to station. This is as a result of Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS) and Television Audience Measurement Survey (TAMS) results. All advertisers need is to know who their targets are and which radio or TV channels to use in reaching them. This is where the surveys play a vital role.
According to some Nigerian media experts, mid news is the period when people mostly watch some key stations like Channels for news, STV for entertainment news, AIT and NTA for network news. So 30 seconds at this time belt could go for N221, 000 or more depending on the station. Another period which can guarantee advertisers mileage is news adjacency slot (a minute or two before news) and 30 seconds on this could cost N101, 000. The rates cited above are for AIT.

Primetime News Sponsorships
The buzz within the industry is that the aggressive sponsorship of primetime sports news on major Nigerian TV stations such as AIT, NTA and Channels by Guinness Nigeria is a direct response to NB’s sponsorship of primetime entertainment news on the same stations during the same news programmes. Although the two brewing giants do not belong to the same beer category, their duopoly and the attendant lingering corporate rivalry cannot be relegated in this discourse.
On the possibility of primetime news sponsorships triggering another corporate battle between the brewing giants, NB sources believe that Guinness has a way of aping their marketing strategies but would not make any categorical statement on the possibility of the ongoing sponsorship spree provoking further rivalry.
The sources maintain, however, that “when it comes to copying our marketing communications initiatives, our friend (Guinness) is very good at it. But as for this sponsorship of primetime news giving rise to another corporate rivalry, we are not sure about that. You know, our current rivalry concerning who leads in the malt category (Maltina vs. Malta Guinness) is still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. We don’t pray for more.”
Asked if Guinness Nigeria sees its recent heightened interest in sponsoring primetime sports news as a ‘me too’ thing, a top management staff at Guinness made no response to the SMS sent to his cell phone. He also declined taking several calls put through to the same line.
Lanre Adisa, managing director of Noah’s Ark believes that the primetime battle is solely about any platform that can enable a brand owner market to his or her target, irrespective other players that are also jostling for space and attention.
“My thinking is simple. I don’t think it is a case of anybody copying anybody. Guinness has always been there as a power brand. In many cases, media placement is all about latching onto something that commands a large audience attention,” he says.
Watchers reason that this strategy has been over-flogged and think marketers should put on their thinking caps to evolve news strategies that can deliver the goods, instead of falling over one another within the same space. People are getting bored with the brands cluttering ads and messages, leaving little chance for assimilation. They also contend this defeats the efforts to win mindshare, the very objective of advertising.

Jostling for Mindshare
It is obvious that the majority of consumers and prospects that both brands desire to reach with the marketing communications messages are always glued to their television sets during primetime telecasts.
Recently, Maltina’s claim to leadership in the malt drinks category pitched the brand against Malta Guinness. The NB advert, presumably cleared by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), proudly announces that Maltina is the number one malt drink in Nigeria. Displeased with this claim, Guinness Nigeria filed a petition with APCON challenging the veracity of the ad. The protest letter was supported with statistics from a Nigeria-based research company stating that Malta Guinness was the leading malt beverage brand in the country.
Guinness appeared battle ready. It further argued that Maltina may have been number one but that latest findings in 2009 show that Malta Guinness has overtaken it. The company then embarked on the ‘Naija’s Number One Malt’ campaign to push its point. The new advert also emphasized that Malta Guinness was full of vitamins and iron.
The Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), the relevant organ of APCON, has since ruled in favour of Maltina in the malt war.
On this, Adisa says: “A brand can determine where to go at any point in time so long as it works for it. There is no rule that says a brand should stand at a particular spot forever. Remember, no brand is static.”
On whether the law of consistency no longer holds for brands, he says: “But if moving from one platform to the other works for the brand owners and increases their bottom line, fine. I don’t see any conflict with that. Yes I know that a brand should be remembered for something but since there is no branding or marketing rule that makes it compulsory, there is nothing yet wrong with that.”

Consistency
The industry is still watching Guinness’ involvement with football while noting that NB has remained consistent in entertainment through the years.
NB Star’s sponsorship of primetime entertainment news can be seen as an extension of its campaign strategy to immerse itself wholly in entertainment. However, popular opinion in some quarters holds that Guinness should show itself consistent. While Star is already synonymous with music, experts recommend that the greatness of Guinness could be synonymous with a different thing, perhaps, sports, but only consistency can help them entrench this in the minds of the public.
Some years ago, Guinness dabbled into entertainment when it invited Wyclef Jean to perform in Nigeria during the Guinness Black Gold Concert and the brand also used Tuface Idibia to launch Guinness Extra Smooth. But these were one-off cases, being the brand’s major known romance with entertainment which industry watchers maintain cannot be compared with NB’s firm connect with the Nigerian public through music.
To the above fact, Adisa says: “I watch a lot of entertainment news and I agree completely with you. But you know Guinness has always been a power brand. So if it sees anything it can associate with to communicate its attributes to consumers, I personally think the brand is at liberty to do that.
However, the need for consistency cannot be overemphasized. The relationship between Guinness and Nigerian football just began. Let us give them some time and see what they do with it.”
Consumers are difficult to reach; more difficult to persuade; and it is most difficult to achieve competitive advantage in a keenly contested market. Marketers who desire to increase market share must steel themselves to overcome a lot of hurdles. Perhaps, the best strategy of all will be to employ creative marketing communication messages that will engage the audience, rather than mimic over-flogged paths and to be consistent in using this.